Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) issued the following statement in support of legislation introduced by Senator Cotton (R-AR) and Senator Perdue (R-GA) to reform America’s outdated, legal immigration system. Senators Cotton and Perdue joined President Trump today to unveil legislation aimed at creating jobs for Americans. America’s current immigration system is broken, favoring low-skilled immigrants, depressing wages, and harming America’s most vulnerable citizens. Brooks announced his intention to support the bill as an original cosponsor in the House of Representatives.

Congressman Mo Brooks said, “As a backdrop, America has by far and away the most generous immigration system on the planet. However, we only accept between 5-12% of immigrants based on education and skill level. I applaud Senators Cotton and Perdue for their leadership in introducing the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (RAISE). The RAISE Act replaces the current permanent employment-visa framework with a skills-based system that rewards applicants based on their individual merits. Further, the legislation eliminates the diversity visa lottery as well as the immigration preferences for extended family and adult family members of U.S. residents, while maintaining preferences for the spouse and minor children of U.S. residents – thereby encouraging the unification of nuclear families.

“America must recognize our challenges and opportunities, and be much more selective in our immigration policies to ensure incoming immigrants are both self-sufficient and are able and willing to be properly absorbed into American society. If we aren’t, American workers will continue to have their wages undercut by the importation of cheaper, foreign labor and America will lose its special place in history. I am proud to support this key component of President Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda and appreciate the President’s continued leadership and dedication to making America’s economy great again.”